It has already been explained many times why both systems are not backwards compatible. Both 360 and PS3 were based on PowerPC architecture and were pretty complex (especially PS3). They would need to include the PS3 hardware on the PS4 motherboard for it to work since emulation would be impossible given the architecture differences. That would make the system waaaay too expensive to produce. Maybe down the line they'll do it, but unless you want another $600 system you should be happy that they're being reasonable. It's not bullshit, it's reality.

The difference is Sony will offer some level of BC through Gaikai streaming whereas MS doesn't give a fuck.

EDIT: From Polygon, a site funded by Microsoft:

Quote:

After a month of vague corporate comments from Microsoft executives, we now know the Xbox One's game licensing policy was written from the ground up for companies. It's aggressively anti-consumer and anti-middle class, and it outright ignores underprivileged gamers. It's gross, despicable, greedy, pathetic, cowardly and out of touch with a growing global resentment for corporations.

Microsoft didn't choose to do this of their own accord. The cost of implementing and maintaining a system to track every game owned by every user and to ensure that it can be traded in these ways is surely far more than the value it would bring to the first party titles.

So it seems that Microsoft did this as a response to the requests of other publishers. If that is the case, then surely Sony must also be planning a similar system for PS4.

Yeah, but apparently Sony is more concerned with what the public thinks than any individual developer or big shot publisher. It makes sense in the long run, make the PS4 super popular, flood the market with a more user friendly solution and the devs will make a huge sum of money regardless if they have Stammlager DRM or not.

I think Microsoft always had a choice. Console gaming is a huge, huuuge business. If any individual developer doesn't like a design choice, they can either jump ship or learn to live with it and get access to a huge player base.